Lorenzo Soare is a journalist who has been investigating the new sedative Letenox, manufactured by Marlow & Kurtz. So powerful is this drug that it is claimed that it can erase bad memories from the brain and there are those who believe that its manufacturers are using it for political ends. A few days after Letenox went on sale, Lorenzo Soare woke up with no memory at all and found himself accused of murder …
Does this introduction to the story have you gripped? It has certainly gripped thousands of Italians, who are able to view the TV series, Frammenti, on Sky Italia channel 130 on Thursdays at 22.00. The drama can also be followed on the internet.
Aired by Al Gore’s Milan-based station Current TV, the 12-episode series breaks new ground in TV drama, changing the rules of fiction. Part-drama, part-reality-game, the series asks its viewers to solve each episode’s enigma, interacting with the story’s characters and developing plot. Each episode has clues and unsolved mysteries which viewers try to solve online, through blogs, through a facebook group and other fan groups. The channel even aired advertisements for the non-existent Letenox, fooling “real” journalists into debating the morality of such a drug. There is also a website for the fictional drug company, M&K.
The series is an experiment in the new genre of “wide drama” – in which the viewer becomes a co-protagonist and influences the plot – and it is a “first” in Italy and the world. The series is also the first scripted drama that Current TV has aired, as it has previously concentrated on documentaries such as Citizen Berlusconi, which no other Italian channel dared to show.
By piecing all the “fragments” of information and clues together, it is hoped that someone, somewhere, can save Lorenzo Soare. If you feel like joining in, there are just nine episodes left. You have little time….
Do you think this type of series is the future of TV drama?
